The Role of Dispositional Rule-Following and Metaphors About Psychological Flexibility on Operant Schedule Control

Metaphors are used throughout acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to minimize the inflexibility of rule-governed, rather than contingency-shaped, behavior. Within the behavior analytic literature underlying ACT, responding on operant schedules has been used to parse out these differing sources of behavioral control. We thus used this preparation to more directly link the therapeutic use of metaphors to this literature. Participants were 105 undergraduates presented one of three passages-two metaphors and one nonmetaphor-with varying relevance for schedule control on an operant task where points could be both gained and lost. Schedule control was analyzed by visual analysis of cumulative point records over the course of the task. Two measures of dispositional rule-following-tracking and pliance-were also examined as moderators. No differences in schedule control were found between passage conditions alone. However, participants high in tracking who received the task-relevant metaphor were most likely to demonstrate schedule control reflective of psychological flexibility, while those low in both tracking and pliance who received the task-relevant metaphor were least likely to do so. Findings suggest dispositional tracking heightens the impact of therapeutic metaphors on psychological flexibility. Limitations and implications for further research on the behavior analysis of therapeutic metaphors are discussed.